"One of the more notable trolley coach operations was in Cleveland which started running the electric coaches in 1936 and ended operations in 1963. During this period it was a trolley coach fan's dream with Brills, Pullmans, St Louis' and Marmons running on frequent headway and the chance to see the only pre-war Twin Coach articulated trolley coach that was ever built.

"The first route instituted in Cleveland was the Hough line. It was the replacement for the 4.6 mile rail line. This trolley coach route started operation on March 1, 1936 under the Cleveland Railway Company (CRC). The line was to hold a special place in history as it was the first trolley coach line to actually enter a downtown area of a city with a million plus metropolitan population. This line required 20 cars to hold service and these were manufactured by Pullman and bore the fleet numbers of 900-919. An additional 8 cars were purchased in 1937 from Pullman (920-927) to handle the increased ridership on the line."

As if cartoons would make any difference to these subhumans... A video made in Canada for where the recently elected PM Trudeau wants to import another 250,000 of these Untermenschen. How does that make you feel, Canadians?

Helsinki (AFP) – Finland expects to expel around 20,000 of the 32,000 asylum seekers it received in 2015, the country’s interior ministry said on Thursday.

“In principle we speak of about two-thirds, meaning approximately 65 percent of the 32,000 will get a negative decision (to their asylum application),” Paivi Nerg, the ministry’s administrative director told AFP.

A vulture that flew into Lebanon from an Israeli nature reserve has been captured on suspicion of spying, according to local media reports.

Gamla Nature Reserve tracked the bird to near the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil, which is just a few kilometers over the border from Israel -- then reports began trickling in that the bird was being held by locals who suspected it because it had Israeli tags and devices.

A series of pictures also surfaced: one of a vulture with Israeli tags and a rope tied around its leg; another of a transmitter on the same bird's back; and another of two men displaying the bird's massive wingspan.

The vulture was released in the same place it was caught after it was "certain that it was not carrying any hostile [spying] equipment," according to local Arabic news site bintjbeil.org. Since then, the Israeli parks authority has not been able to track where the vulture went and is worried about its health.

Initially the Republican contender poll ratings for US President last year were about who was the most popular personality, which had Donald Trump in the lead. Then Ben Carson stole the limelight by saying that a Muslim would not make a suitable US President, and gained more by comparing Muslim migrants in Europe to rabid dogs. This closed the gap with Trump in the polls, briefly.

However, Trump regained the lead by proposing a complete ban on Muslim migrants in December following the Muslim terrorist shootings in Paris and San Bernardino - and numerous foiled Muslim plots since - and has maintained it.

Our feeling is that the policies of presently second placed and 'tea party' member Ted Cruz are simply too conservative to make him electable, while Trump's stances are quite populist; most importantly, dislike of Muslims in the US is very high and growing. With the US economy now in reasonable shape compared to 7 years ago, issues like this will dominate the campaign.

In the Democrat camp, Bernie Sanders is the counterpart to Cruz: simply too extreme to be electable.

The big question is, who out of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would win the top job?

Update -- Trump sticks it to Fox News
Trump made good on his promise and boycotted the Republican Presidential contenders debate. This isn't a surprise being that the real problem is that Fox News is controlled by Rupert Murdoch who is known for his open borders, unrestricted immigration viewpoint -- quite opposed to Trump's stance.

the Fox News reporter who Trump had a falling out with, Megyn Kelly, second from left, with her boss, Rupert Murdoch next to her.

An 012 class, 4-6-2 'Pacific' type, is seen in May 1975 with a local train at Leer in Ostfriesland over the Emsland line in the direction of Rheine. The passenger cars are Silberlinge but the luggage van behind the tender is in the cream and dark teal livery then making its appearance on the DB.

This three-cylinder loco was built in 1940, weight 110 tonnes and top speed 140 km/h. The year 1975 was their last in service. (scanned from an old calendar, original credited to Udo Paulitz)

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Platforms 1 and 2 at Wynyard Station were for trams from the opening of the station (and the Harbour Bridge) in 1932 until the trams ceased running here in 1958. The platforms were then walled off from the rest of the station and the space was used for underground car parks. A pic of the former tram tunnel is here

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All at Sea: stories of New Zealand seafarers

Narratives from interviews conducted over several years with 16 merchant navy sailors - 14 men and 2 women - who recounted their stories from the last full fledged sailing ship, the Pamir being returned to her home country of Finland after WWII to recent stories on today's inter-island ferries and coastal vessels, as well as international cargo and passenger ships which sailed to various parts of the globe. A full range of occupations are covered from Deck Boy, Engineer, Steward to Master as well as harbour pilots, union leaders and shipping company executives.

NZR Memorabilia

A fabulous new book containing many colourful illustrations of old postcards, pamphlets, posters, and a wide range of objects that have been used by the NZR and its personnel from the 1860s to the present time. Together they tell in visual form the importance of NZR to NZ and its people over the past 150 years and provides a useful reference for collectors.

Voyage to Gallipoli

Details of the troopships to the Gallipoli campaign of WW1 and more WW1 naval history.